For example, an electronic blind or the like in which a light-modulating cell (light-modulating material) is installed in a window, a door, or the like, and the transmission of extraneous light is controlled by the light-modulating cell has been known. It is possible to suitably employ a liquid crystal, for example, as such a light-modulating cell.
The light-modulating cell employing the liquid crystal is produced by, for example, sandwiching a liquid crystal layer between a pair of transparent film members forming transparent electrodes or between a pair of alignment films so as to prepare a liquid crystal cell, and sandwiching this liquid crystal cell between linear polarizing plates to take linearly polarized light. When light-modulating is performed by using a light-modulating cell employing a liquid crystal, the transmission of light is controlled by controlling an electric field to be applied to the liquid crystal layer to change orientation of liquid crystal molecules contained in the liquid crystal layer, and the light-modulating cell can switch the shielding and transmission of extraneous light and continuously change the amount of transmitted light, for example.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a liquid crystal panel that is provided in a window or a door of a house and capable of controlling a transparent state and an opaque state. According to this liquid crystal panel, a plurality of divided liquid crystal panels are juxtaposed, and each of the divided liquid crystal panels can be individually controlled between the transparent state and the opaque state.
In addition, Patent Literature 2 discloses a light control glass window capable of adjusting light transmittance in various patterns in accordance with a change of a sunlight situation. According to this light control glass window, the light transmittance can be adjusted by changing a voltage acting on a liquid crystal sealed between two transparent glass plates to change optical characteristics of the liquid crystal.